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User blog:Carol of the bells/Days of Ruin (Revised): Chapter 4, part 3
It seems the true story has finally been set into motion. A small taste of a new world has been revealed to our ‘hero’. Her old life is slowly slipping away from her thoughts, but it lurks behind the horizon. Demons lie in wait behind her and before her. At the point, history will begin to bleed into the present. The only question is, will it repeat itself? Of course, I know the answer. It’s already happened. But, for your sake, I’ll reveal it the proper way. *** “What do you know about gods, Selena?” The water unit looked towards Zen as they rested in the grasslands. “I’m sure I would know a lot about them if I remembered. I’m just one of many copies of the original, so I’m afraid my memories are a bit…diluted.” In the background, Lancia lifted her head from where she lay. “Was that a water pun?” Zen shrugged. “That’s okay, I just want to know more. Father never told us anything, and the most I’ve ever heard about them is from rumors in the arena.” “Are you just going to ignore the pun?” Lancia inquired. “I’ll do my best, then,” Selena said. “There are many gods, as well as many lesser-gods, though some call them ‘disciples’. All of them, even the lesser ones, are powerful beings. Are they actually gods? I don’t know. I’ve heard that they were once humans who discovered the secrets of time, or that they were created by the oldest and most powerful god, Karna Masta, but I don’t know which is true. History is more fluid than it is solid.” Lancia threw up her hands. “She did it again! Am I the only one hearing this?” Selena held up a finger (no, not that one) to emphasize her point. “At any rate, that’s not entirely important. The fact was we humans were vastly out-matched by the gods. Some people feared them because of this, and others worshiped them for the same reason. It would have been better if we all feared them. Some of the gods tried to eliminate humans. Again, no one know exactly why. Even with a few gods defending us, we were at a disadvantage. At the rate that we were losing people, any victory would have been a shallow one.” “She freaking did it again! It doesn’t even contribute to the story!” “But we did win, eventually. I don’t remember how, or at what cost, but the gods who wanted us dead were sealed away, and the rest just seemed to disappear. I apparently lost my life in the battle,” She motioned to her form, “As you can see. Since then, we’ve been left to our own waves.” “She’s not even trying to hide it!” Zen pondered what Selena had said for a moment. “So…for the most part, the gods were the enemies of the humans?” Selena considered her statement before answering. “I don’t think so. Who knows what turned the gods against us, or what made some of them come to our defense? They seem to have left us alone for all this time, though some have would have them tide to recent disasters.” At this point, Lancia was shouting incoherent obscenities, unreasonably upset for an unknown reason. Aem, having just realized what a commotion she was making, was attempting to calm her down, but he received the flat end of a skillet to his face for his trouble. “But they’re not leaving us alone now, are they?” Zen shuddered as she recalled the sound of the old man’s shrieks as he dissolved into the light, and the feeling of the earth splitting beneath her feet. “Do you think they’re going to attack? Will we need gods to defend us from gods again?” Selena offered a reassuring smile. “I know things seem uncertain, but you shouldn’t be afraid. There’s no point, because we won’t know the answer. For now, you should focus on your original porpoise.” Lancia leapt at the water unit to strangle her but was tackled by Mifune, who Aem had recruited to battle the menace. Zen sighed in defeat. “I don’t even know what that is anymore. When I was forced to leave, all I could think about was getting home as soon as I could, but…What is waiting for me there? Nothing. Maybe it’s better that I don’t go back. You and the others saw what I was becoming. It scares me now to think about it, but I was blind to it. I don’t want anything to do with that lifestyle anymore.” “I’m glad you’re thinking of these things, Zen,” Selena said, “and I’m sorry I don’t have an answer for you now. But, I promise we’ll be by your seaside, whatever decision you make.” Unnoticed by Zen and Selena, a pillar of fire erupted in the background as Lancia did battle with Aem and Mifune. *** Lin raced through the corridor, pushing past the summoners that had crowded around a giant monitor. It displayed a black-and-white world-wide map. It displayed color to visualize activities of Aether, coded according to its element. At the moment, two large white circles stained the left side of the Mistral map. Panicked summoners gathered around it, creating a mixture of fear and dread. Lin held her paper close to her as she turned around the corner and into the logistics chamber, lit only by the many rows of monitors, each attended by a support worker. The room bustled with activity as people scrambled between the screens. “Captain!” Lin waved her hand in the air to get her superior’s attention. He turned from the display, his features warped with concern. “Good, you’re here. Show me.” She hurried towards him and spilled the papers onto the desk, shuffling though them to find a particular one. “Here! Here it is.” She snatched from the pile and gave it to him. His eyes scanned over the image. He clicked his tongue and slammed it back onto the table. Everyone in the room jumped at the noise, stared for a moment, then quickly resumed their work. “What the heck do they expect us to do about this? We can’t send every available summoner to this location.” “I-I don’t know, sir,” Lin replied. He ran a hand through his crew-cut hair and sighed. “I’ll just have to hash this out with them myself.” He snapped his fingers and one of the workers jumped up from his desk to follow the captain out of the door. Lin picked the paper back up. When they received the reports of the two massive fluctuations of Aether, they traced it back to its source immediately. The paper in Lin’s hand was another map, with a dotted line between two locations. The first was the locations of the earthquakes, and the second was a mountainous region in St. Lamia. It was protocol for all Aether related events to be dealt with by the logistics department, but they had never dealt with anything this size. Whatever caused this incident would be far beyond their capabilities; most of the summoners in their command weren’t used to anything more than a contained situation. This was far from contained. She looked back at the monitor, which showed the Aether flow in real time. The two large white circles still pulsated on the map, and now smaller dots of all colors speckled the surrounding areas. As they feared, the event had disturbed several monster nests. No doubt this would soon be the least of their troubles. The intercom on the desk began to blink, signaling an incoming call. Lin took her seat and answered. “Summoner’s Hall, logistics speaking.” The voice on the other end was female, mature. Confident in an unnerving way. “Greetings, Summoner’s Hall. This is Paris of the Imperial Army of Randall speaking.” Lin felt a knot in her stomach as she stuttered a reply. “M-Ms. Paris, how unexpected.” “Is it really? I would have thought you were watching the Aether activity as well, or did you not see the cataclysmic interruption?” “We all did, of course! How can I help you?” She chuckled. Her voice was practically dripping with arrogance. “Good. I would hate to have to clean up your mess. I need to speak to the captain of your division.” “I’m sorry, he’s gone to speak with the council about the Aether event.” “Well, then, you can give him this message. Tell him we are watching. If the Hall can’t contain this situation, we will. You have one month to clean up this mess before we take over. Believe me, I’d like to do it now, but my superiors would like to give you a fighting chance. Looks better that way, you see.” Lin only sat in stunned silence. “Can I trust you to deliver the message, or have you gone mute?” “I’ll tell him,” She replied hastily. “Good. Thank you for your time.” The intercom clicked and the light went out, signaling the call had ended. Lin sank back into the chair. Indeed, this was becoming the least of their troubles. Category:Blog posts